Frequency and phase locking apparatus

ABSTRACT

A frequency and phase locking apparatus for a phase alignment of a plurality of temporal frames, such as synchronous optical network (SONET) frames, includes a phase locked loop 6 coupled to lock the phase of the first frame, a first frame device 8a capable of receiving the first frame and coupled to provide a synchronous frame frequency to the phase locked loop 6, subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n capable of receiving frames subsequent to the first frame, and a drop clock device 22 coupled to the subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n to set the phases of the subsequent frames in alignment with the phase of the first frame.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a frequency and phase locking apparatus, and more particularly, to a frequency and phase locking apparatus for the phase alignment of a plurality of temporal frames.

2. Background

The telecommunications industry has developed various frequency and phase locking systems and methods for synchronizing time division multiplexed (TDM) signals in a plurality of temporal frames, such as synchronous optical network (SONET) frames. The SONET employs an industry-standard transmission format that is used for the transmission of various types of communication signals such as telephony and video signals. The SONET frames are organized in a plurality of superframes, each superframe having a duration of 1 ms and containing eight frames each with a duration of 125 μs. A plurality of TDM cells, each having a predetermined duration and containing a plurality of data bits, can be included in each of the SONET frames. In general, the SONET format and the time division multiplexing of digital data bits are conventional and well known to a person skilled in the art.

The SONET frames, which are in a temporal sequence during transmission, can be stored in a plurality of physical layer devices for signal processing. The SONET frames can be stored in a bank of SONET physical layer devices each adapted to capture a respective SONET frame. In order to schedule a plurality of TDM cells into a plurality of SONET frames for transmission over commercially available physical layer devices, such as those typically used in conventional asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) data communications equipment, it is important that the SONET frames be aligned in phase with respect to each other. Although various types of conventional phase locked loop and frequency locked loop circuits are available, they are not adapted to provide an accurate phase alignment of different SONET frames. Therefore, there is a need for a frequency and phase locking apparatus to provide an accurate phase alignment of the SONET frames.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention satisfies this need. In view of the above problem, the present invention provides a frequency and phase locking apparatus that is able to accomplish accurate frequency locking and phase alignment of a plurality of temporal frames such as synchronous optical network (SONET) frames. In an embodiment in which each of the frames is characterized by a frequency and a phase, the apparatus roughly comprises:

(a) a phase locked loop coupled to lock the phase of the first frame;

(b) a first frame device capable of receiving the first frame and coupled to provide a synchronous frame frequency to the phase locked loop;

(c) at least one subsequent frame device capable of receiving the at least one subsequent frame; and

(d) a drop clock device coupled to the first frame device to detect the phase of the first frame and further coupled to the at least one subsequent frame device to set the phase of the at least one subsequent frame in coherence with the phase of the first frame.

In a further embodiment, the phase locked loop comprises frequency and phase comparators coupled to lock the frequency and phase, respectively, of the first frame in the first frame device. In yet a further embodiment, the phase locked loop further comprises a clock signal generator capable of generating an output clock frequency based on frequency and phase error signals from the frequency and phase comparators, respectively, and having an output coupled to the first frame device. The drop clock device is adapted to provide predetermined phase shifts for the subsequent frames in the subsequent frame devices to align the phases of the subsequent frames with the phase of the first frame. The apparatus may further comprise a plurality of phase shifters coupled between the drop clock device and the subsequent frame devices to shift the phases of the subsequent frames.

Advantageously, the apparatus according to the present invention is able to provide a fine phase lock of the first frame and an accurate phase alignment of the subsequent frames with respect to the first frame. A further advantage of the present invention is that only one phase locked loop is required to provide a fine phase lock of the first frame without the need to provide a separate phase locked loop for each of the subsequent frames.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described with respect to particular embodiments thereof, and references will be made to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a frequency and phase locking apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of a frequency and phase locking apparatus in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a frequency and phase locking method which can be performed by the apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a frequency and phase locking method which can be performed by the apparatus according to the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating yet another example of a frequency and phase locking method which can be performed by the apparatus according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a phase locking apparatus according to the present invention. A reference clock 2, such as a standard synchronous optical network (SONET) reference clock, provides a standard input reference frequency, for example, a SONET clock frequency of 16.384 MHz. This input reference frequency is fed to a modul o M divider 4 providing a predetermined first divisor, for example, 2¹¹, which is equal to 2048, to divide the input reference frequency to obtain a first reference frequency for the phase locking of the first frame. For an industry-standard SONET frame, the first reference frequency can be conveniently set at 8,000 Hz. A phase locked loop 6, which adjusts the first reference frequency to obtain a phase lock of the first frame in the first frame device 8a, includes a phase comparator 10 which compares the first reference frequency provided by the modulo M divider 4 and the frame frequency of the first frame output from the first frame device 8a. Since both the first reference frequency and the SONET frame frequency are 8,000 Hz, which is equivalent to a period of 125 μs, a small phase shift can be detected by the phase comparator 10 which generates an error signal in a digital format. The phase locked loop 6 further includes a clock signal generator 12, which outputs a clock signal to lock the phase of the first SONET frame in the first frame device 8a. The clock signal generator 12 may comprise a digital to analog converter 14 connected to the phase comparator 10 to convert the digital phase error signal to an analog voltage signal, a low pass filter 16 connected to the digital to analog converter 14 to filter out high-frequency jitters in the analog signal, and a voltage controlled oscillator 18 connected to the low-pass filter 16 to generate the output clock signal for the phase locking of the first frame in the first frame device 8a. If a phase error in the first frame device 8a still exists, the phase locked loop 6 continues to adjust the first reference frequency until a fine phase lock in the first frame device 8a is obtained.

The phase locking apparatus according to the present invention further includes at least one subsequent frame device, which usually comprises a plurality of subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n, capable of receiving and storing a plurality of subsequent frames from the second frame to the n^(th) frame, respectively. The subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n are also coupled to receive the phase locked clock signal from the clock signal generator 12 in the phase locked loop 6. A drop clock device 22 can be connected to the first frame device 8a to detect the phase of the first frame and further coupled to the subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n to set the phases of the subsequent frames, respectively, in coherence with the phase of the first frame in the first frame device 8a. A plurality of phase shifters 24b . . . 24n can be coupled between the subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n, respectively, and the voltage controlled oscillator 18, and further coupled to receive the respective drop clock signals from the drop clock device 22 which provides a predetermined phase shift for each of the subsequent frames. Depending upon the application, the predetermined phase shift for each of the subsequent frames may be a fixed phase shift between immediately adjacent frames for phase coherence. The phases of the subsequent frames may be shifted such that the phase difference between the subsequent frames and the first frame is 0° for a strict phase alignment of the subsequent frames with respect to the first frame.

The drop clock device 22 may be further coupled to the subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n to sense the phase shifts of the subsequent frames in the subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n, respectively, and in response, to adjust the phases of the subsequent frames according to the predetermined phase shift. The drop clock device 22 may be a digital device that generates a plurality of digital drop clock signals, and the phase shifters 24b . . . 24n may be digital phase shifters which shift the phases of the subsequent frames in the subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n in response to the respective drop clock signals from the drop clock device 22.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of another embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention. The reference clock 2 generates an input reference frequency F_(r) which is fed to first and second frequency dividers 4 and 26 with first and second divisors M and N, respectively. The first frequency divider 4 provides the first reference frequency while the second frequency divider 26 provides the second reference frequency. Since the second reference frequency is used for fine phase tracking whereas the second reference frequency is used for frequency tracking, which may be considered as coarse phase tracking, the first reference frequency is usually higher than the second reference frequency. Since both first and second frequencies are provided by the same reference clock 2, the first divisor M should be less than the second divisor N. In addition to the phase comparator 10 which compares the phases of the first reference frequency from the first frequency divider 4 and the frame frequency from the first frame device 8a, a frequency comparator 28 is connected to compare the second reference frequency generated by the second frequency divider 26 with a scaled output frequency provided by a third frequency divider 30. The third frequency divider 30 is connected to the output of the voltage controlled oscillator 18 of the clock signal generator 12 in the phase locked loop 6. The output clock signal frequency, which is the same as that fed to the frame devices 8a, 8b, . . . 8n, is divided by a predetermined third divisor in the third frequency divider 30 to generate a scaled feedback frequency for comparison with the second reference frequency in the frequency comparator 28.

Based upon the frequency and phase comparisons, the frequency and phase comparators 28, 10 generate frequency and phase error signals, respectively, for coarse and fine phase corrections, respectively. The clock signal generator 12 may further comprise a digital shift register coupled to receive the digital frequency and phase error signals from the frequency and phase comparators 28, 10, respectively, and in response, to generate a digital correction signal to be fed to the digital to analog converter 14. Since the frequency comparator 28 provides a coarse phase error whereas the phase comparator 10 provides a fine phase error, the shift register 32 may be connected to receive the frequency error signal from the frequency comparator 28 as higher order bits and the phase error signal from the phase comparator 10 as lower order bits. The digital correction signal received by the digital to analog converter 14 is thus a composite correction signal for both coarse and fine phase adjustments. The analog voltage signal generated by the digital to analog converter 14 passes through a low-pass filter 16, which filters out high-frequency jitters in the analog signal, to the voltage controlled oscillator 18, which generates the clock signal for the first and subsequent frames in the respective frame devices 8a, 8b, . . . 8n.

For a typical SONET application, the voltage controlled oscillator 18 may be adapted to generate an output clock frequency of 19.44 MHz, and a 12-bit digital to analog converter may be used as the digital to analog converter 14 to generate the analog control voltage signal for the voltage controlled oscillator 18. The output clock frequency, which is the clock frequency for the SONET frame devices 8a, 8b, . . . 8n, is fed to the third frequency divider 30 with a divisor of (F_(s) /F_(r))N, wherein F_(s) is the output clock frequency generated by the voltage controlled oscillator 18, F_(r) is the input reference frequency generated by the reference clock 2, and N is the divisor in the second frequency divider 26. In this SONET application, for example, F_(s) equals 19.44 MHz, F_(r) equals 16.384 MHz, and equals 2¹⁷ which is 131072. Therefore, the divisor in the third frequency divider 30 is 155520, a number by which the output clock frequency of 19.44 MHz is divided to obtain a frequency of 125 Hz. This frequency is consistent with the second reference frequency, which is generated by dividing the input reference clock frequency of 16.384 MHz by N=2¹⁷ in the second frequency divider 26. If there is a difference between these frequencies, the frequency comparator 28 detects the frequency difference and generates a frequency error signal which is fed to the shift register 32 for coarse phase adjustment.

In a manner similar to that which is shown in FIG. 1 and described above, a plurality of frame devices 8a, 8b, . . . 8n including the first frame device 8a and subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n are provided to receive the first and subsequent frames, respectively. The clock signal generator 12 in the phase locked loop 6 provides the same clock signal to each of the frame devices 8a, 8b, . . . 8n. The drop clock device 22 is connected to the output of the first frame 8a and coupled to provide a predetermined phase shift for each of the subsequent frames stored in the subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n to lock the phases of the subsequent frames in coherence with the phase of the first frame. The predetermined phase shift may be a fixed phase shift between immediately adjacent frames for phase coherence. The phases of the subsequent frames may be shifted such that the phase difference between the subsequent frames and the first frame is 0° for a strict phase alignment of the subsequent frames with respect to the first frame. The drop clock device 22 may be connected to provide digital phase shift signals to the digital phase shifters 24b . . . 24n, which are connected to shift the phases of the output clock signal for the subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n, respectively. The drop clock device 22 may be further connected to the outputs of the subsequent frame devices 8b . . . 8n to sense actual phase shifts of the subsequent frames and in response, to adjust the phases of the subsequent frames through the phase shifters 24b . . . 24n, respectively, according to the predetermined phase shifts. The phases of the subsequent frames in the subsequent frame devices 24b . . . 24n may be incremented or decremented in small steps, for example, until the phase shift in each of the subsequent frames with respect to the first frame is 0°.

FIG. 3 is a simplified flowchart of an embodiment of a phase locking method which may be performed by the apparatus according to the present invention. The method roughly includes the steps of:

providing a first reference frequency;

adjusting the first reference frequency to obtain a fine phase lock in the first frame;

setting the phases of subsequent frames in coherence with the phase of the first frame;

tracking the phase of the first frame;

determining whether the phase lock of the first frame is lost;

repeating the step of adjusting the first reference frequency to obtain a fine phase lock in the first frame if the phase lock of the first frame is lost; and

continuing the step of tracking the phase of the first frame if the phase lock is maintained.

The first reference frequency for the fine phase locking of the first frame can be provided by a conventional digital clock, such as the reference clock 2 in FIGS. 1 and 2. If the clock frequency of an available clock is different from the desired first reference frequency, the first reference frequency can be obtained from the clock frequency through a synthesizer circuit, such as a frequency divider 4. For example, a conventional standard synchronous optical network (SONET) clock 2 with an octal bus clock frequency of 16.384 MHz can be used as the reference clock, with a modulo M divider 4 provided to divide the SONET octal bus clock frequency to obtain the first reference frequency. For example, if M is set to equal 2¹¹, which is equal to 2048, the first reference frequency obtained by the frequency division would be 8,000 Hz, which is equivalent to a period of 125 μs, the period of a standard SONET frame. The first reference frequency may be adjusted, for example, by a phase locked loop 6 which is connected to compare the reference clock frequency divided by the modulo M divider 4 with the frame frequency provided by the first SONET device 8a, which is adapted to store the first SONET frame in its memory. The phase locked loop 6 compares the two frequencies, detects small phase errors, and provides an adjustment to the first reference frequency for the first SONET device 8a, which stores the first SONET frame. While holding the frequency and phase of the first frame constant in the first SONET device 8a, the phases of the frames subsequent in temporal sequence to the first frame are adjusted such that they are in coherence with the phase of the first frame to obtain an accurate phase alignment. The phase of the first frame is continually tracked by the phase locked loop 6. If the phase lock of the first frame is lost, the first reference frequency is further adjusted by the phase locked loop 6 to obtain a fine phase lock in the first SONET frame.

The method illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 3 and described above is only an example of a set of process steps that may be performed by the apparatus of the present invention. However, the apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to that which is adapted only to perform the method as described above.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a frequency and phase locking method which may be performed by the apparatus of the present invention. A second reference frequency may be provided to obtain a frequency lock, which is equivalent to a coarse phase lock prior to the fine phase lock in the first frame. In this example, the method of frequency and phase locking comprises the steps of:

providing a first reference frequency;

providing a second reference frequency;

adjusting the second reference frequency to obtain a frequency lock in the first frame;

adjusting the first reference frequency to obtain a fine phase lock in the first frame;

setting the phases of subsequent frames in coherence with the phase of the first frame;

tracking the phase of the first frame;

determining whether the phase lock of the first frame is lost;

repeating the step of adjusting the first reference frequency to obtain a fine phase lock in the first frame if the phase lock of the first frame is lost; and

continuing the step of tracking the phase of the first frame if the phase lock of the first frame is maintained.

The first and second reference frequencies may be provided by different clocks or by the same clock 2 connected to two frequency dividers 4, 26 as shown in FIG. 2 with two different divisors. For example, with a common SONET reference clock 2 generating a clock frequency of 16.384 MHz, a modulo N divider 26 can be provided to obtain the second reference frequency in addition to the modulo M divider 4 for providing the first reference frequency. For example, N can be set to equal 2¹⁷, which is equal to 131072, to divide the SONET clock frequency of 16.384 MHz to obtain a second reference frequency of 125 Hz. A digital frequency of 125 Hz is equivalent to a period of 8 ms.

Furthermore, prior to the step of adjusting the first reference frequency to obtain a fine phase lock in the first frame, the second reference frequency is adjusted to obtain a frequency lock such that the frequency of the first SONET frame is held constant to facilitate the fine phase locking of the first frame. The frequency locking by adjusting the second reference frequency may be regarded as a coarse phase locking, which may be implemented as a preparatory step for the fine phase locking. After the first and second reference frequencies are adjusted to obtain a fine phase locking of the first frame, the phases of the subsequent frames are set in coherence with the phase of the first frame while the phase and frequency of the first frame are held constant to obtain an accurate phase alignment between the subsequent frames and the first frame. The step of setting the phases of the subsequent frames can be achieved, for example, by a plurality of respective drop clock signals for adjusting the phases of the subsequent frames. The drop clock signals can be generated by a drop clock device 22 that provides a predetermined digital phase shift to each of the SONET devices 8b . . . 8n for storing the respective subsequent frames. For example, the drop clock signals may be adapted to provide a predetermined fixed phase shift between immediately adjacent frames, such that the phase of each of the subsequent frames is accurately defined with respect to the phase of the first frame. The phases of the subsequent frames may be shifted in small increments or decrements, for example, until the phase difference between the subsequent frames and the first frame is 0° for a strict phase alignment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating yet another example of a frequency and phase locking method which may be performed by the apparatus of the present invention. The method is similar to that which is illustrated in FIG. 4, but with an additional decision process for adjusting the second reference frequency if the phase lock of the first frame is lost for more than relatively long time. In this embodiment, the method comprises the steps of:

providing a first reference frequency;

providing a second reference frequency;

adjusting the second reference frequency to obtain a frequency lock in the first frame;

adjusting the first reference frequency to obtain a fine phase lock in the first frame;

setting the phases of subsequent frames in coherence with the phase of the first frame;

tracking the phase of the first frame;

determining if the phase lock of the first frame is lost;

continuing the step of tracking the phase of the first frame if the phase lock is maintained;

determining whether the phase lock of the first frame is lost for more than a predetermined time;

adjusting the first reference frequency to obtain a fine phase lock in the first frame if the phase lock is lost for not more than the predetermined time; and

adjusting the second reference frequency to obtain a frequency lock in the first frame if the phase lock of the first frame is lost for more than the predetermined time.

The first and second reference frequencies may be provided by separate SONET clocks or by the same SONET clock 2 with two frequency dividers 4, 26 as shown in FIG. 2 and described above. In general, the frequency lock provides a coarse phase lock prior to the fine phase lock. Therefore, the second reference frequency for frequency locking is usually lower than the first reference frequency for phase locking. If the modulo M and modulo N dividers 4, 26 are connected to the same SONET reference clock to provide the first and second reference frequencies, respectively, then the number M should be less than the number N such that the first reference frequency is higher than the second reference frequency. In the illustrative example described above in which M equals 2¹¹, N equals 2¹⁷ and the reference clock frequency is 16.384 MHz, the first and second reference frequencies are 8,000 Hz and 125 Hz, respectively. The first reference frequency is thus 64 times the second reference frequency. In order to adjust the second reference frequency to achieve a coarse phase locking, the second reference frequency may be adjusted in a frequency locked loop that compares the second reference frequency, which is provided by the SONET reference clock 2 connected to the modulo N divider 26, and the output frequency of the frequency locked loop divided by a fixed number. If there is a difference between these frequencies, the frequency locked loop adjusts the second reference frequency for the first SONET frame to eliminate the difference. The frequency locked loop and the phase locked loop may be combined in a single frequency/phase locked loop circuit 6 with frequency and phase comparators 28, 10 providing higher and lower order bits, respectively, to the digital shift register 32 that provides correction signals to the digital to analog converter 14, which in response generates a control voltage for the voltage controlled oscillator 18 that provides the output clock frequency of the frequency/phase locked loop 6. For example, the voltage controlled oscillator 18 can generate an output clock frequency to provide clocking signals for each of the SONET frame devices 8a, 8b . . . 8n with a frequency of 19.44 MHz. This frequency can be conveyed in a feedback loop to a modulo (F_(s) /F_(r))N divider 30. In this example, the divisor (F_(s) /F_(r))N is equal to (19.44/16.384)×2¹⁷ =155520. The output frequency of the frequency/phase locked loop 6, which is 19.44 MHz, is divided by 155520 to obtain a frequency of 125 Hz. If the voltage controlled oscillator 18 generates a frequency deviating from the standard 19.44 MHz, the frequency comparator 28 detects a frequency error and adjusts the output clock frequency accordingly. Obtaining a frequency lock prior to obtaining a fine phase lock in the first frame may be desirable in some applications although not critical in all applications to enable a fine phase lock in the first frame.

After a fine phase lock in the first frame is achieved, the phases of the subsequent frames are set in coherence with the phase of the first frame to obtain a precise phase alignment, by using a plurality of drop clock signals in the same manner as described above. A drop clock device 22, for example, can provide the digital drop clock signals to the respective subsequent frames, with a predetermined fixed phase shift between the immediately adjacent frames. To obtain a precise alignment of the phases of the subsequent frames with respect to the phase of the first frame, the drop clock device 22 can be programmed to detect a phase difference between any of the subsequent frames out of phase with respect to the first frame to achieve a phase alignment. In the meantime, the phase and frequency of the first frame is continually tracked by the frequency/phase locked loop 6. If the phase lock of the first frame is lost, the first reference frequency can be instantaneously adjusted in small steps to re-engage in a fine phase lock in the first frame. If the phase lock of the first frame is lost for more than a predetermined time, for example, 15 seconds, the second reference frequency can be adjusted to obtain a frequency lock, which is equivalent to a coarse phase lock in the first frame. Although it is expected that a fine phase lock in the first frame can be maintained by only adjusting the first reference frequency for the phase locked loop, the second reference frequency is able to provide further stability in the phase locking of the first frame if the first reference frequency is unable to maintain a fine phase lock in the first frame for a long time. The second reference frequency can be adjusted in small increments or decrements, for example, by pulling the voltage controlled oscillator 18 in the frequency/phase locked loop circuit 6 in small frequency steps to obtain a frequency lock. The first reference frequency may be adjusted by using the period of a standard SONET frame, that is, 125 μs, from the first frame device 8a, in a phase comparison with the first reference frequency to obtain a fine phase lock of the first frame.

The methods illustrated in the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 and 5 and described above are merely examples of methods that may be performed by the apparatus according to the present invention. However, the apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to that which is adapted only to perform the methods illustrated in FIGS. 3-5 and described above. The apparatus of the present invention as defined in the claims is not limited to any particular method of use.

The invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments thereof, and numerous modifications can be made which are within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A phase locking apparatus for phase locking in a plurality of temporal frames including a first frame and at least one subsequent frame, each frame characterized by a frequency and a phase, the apparatus comprising:(a) a phase locked loop coupled to lock the phase of the first frame; (b) a first frame device capable of receiving the first frame and coupled to provide a synchronous frame frequency to the phase locked loop; (c) at least one subsequent frame device capable of receiving the at least one subsequent frame; and (d) a drop clock device coupled to the first frame device to detect the phase of the first frame and further coupled to the at least one subsequent frame device to set the phase of the at least one subsequent frame in coherence with the phase of the first frame.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the phase locked loop comprises a phase comparator connected to the first frame device to compare the synchronous frame frequency with a first reference frequency to lock the phase of the first frame.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a frequency comparator coupled to lock the frequency of the first frame based upon a second reference frequency.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a clock signal generator capable of generating an output clock frequency and having an output coupled to convey the output clock frequency to the first frame device and the at least one subsequent frame device.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the frequency and phase comparators are adapted to generate frequency and phase error signals, respectively.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the clock signal generator comprises a digital to analog converter coupled to the frequency and phase comparators to convert the frequency and phase error signals, respectively, to an analog signal to control the output of the clock signal generator.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises an oscillator coupled to the digital to analog converter to generate the output clock frequency.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises a low pass filter connected between the digital to analog converter and the oscillator.
 9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises a shift register coupled to receive the frequency and phase error signals from the frequency and phase comparators, respectively, and in response to generate a digital correction signal to the digital to analog converter.
 10. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a reference clock capable of generating an input reference frequency and coupled to provide the first and second reference frequencies.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a first frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the phase comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a first divisor to obtain the first reference frequency.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a second frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the frequency comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a second divisor to obtain the second reference frequency.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a third frequency divider, connected between the output of the clock signal generator and the frequency comparator, to divide the output clock frequency by a third divisor.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the third divisor is equal to the second divisor multiplied by the output clock frequency divided by the input reference frequency.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first divisor is less than the second divisor.
 16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one subsequent frame comprises a plurality of subsequent frames in a temporal sequence, the at least one subsequent frame device comprises a plurality of subsequent frame devices respectively for receiving the plurality of subsequent frames, and the drop clock device is further coupled to the plurality of subsequent frame devices to set the phase of each of the subsequent frames in coherence with the phase of the first frame.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the drop clock device is adapted to provide a predetermined phase shift for each of the subsequent frames relative to the first frame.
 18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the drop clock device is adapted to provide a predetermined fixed phase shift between immediately adjacent frames in the plurality of temporal frames.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the predetermined phase shift is 0°.
 20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the drop clock device is further coupled to sense phase shifts of the subsequent frames and in response to adjust the phases of the subsequent frames according to the predetermined phase shift.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, further comprising a plurality of phase shifters coupled between the drop clock device and the plurality of subsequent frame devices, respectively, to shift the phases of the subsequent frames.
 22. A phase locking apparatus for phase locking in a plurality of temporal frames including a first frame and a plurality of subsequent frames, each frame characterized by a frequency and a phase, the apparatus comprising:(a) a phase locked loop for frequency and phase comparisons to lock the frequency and phase, respectively, of the first frame; (b) a first frame device capable of receiving the first frame, the first frame device coupled to provide a synchronous frame frequency to the phase locked loop for the phase comparison; (c) a plurality of subsequent frame devices capable of receiving the plurality of subsequent frames, respectively; and (d) a drop clock device coupled to the first frame device to detect the phase of the first frame and further coupled to the subsequent frame devices to set respectively the phases of the subsequent frames in coherence with the phase of the first frame.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the drop clock device is adapted to provide a predetermined phase shift for each of the subsequent frames relative to the first frame.
 24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the drop clock device is adapted to provide a predetermined fixed phase shift between immediately adjacent frames in the plurality of temporal frames.
 25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the drop clock device is further coupled to sense phase shifts of the subsequent frames and in response to adjust the phases of the subsequent frames according to the predetermined phase shift.
 26. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the predetermined phase shift is 0°.
 27. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising a plurality of phase shifters coupled between the drop clock device and the plurality of subsequent frame devices, respectively, to shift the phases of the subsequent frames.
 28. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the phase locked loop comprises a phase comparator connected to the first frame device to compare the synchronous frame frequency with a first reference frequency to lock the phase of the first frame.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a frequency comparator coupled to lock the frequency of the first frame based upon a second reference frequency.
 30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a clock signal generator capable of generating an output clock frequency and having an output coupled to convey the output clock frequency to the first frame device and the subsequent frame devices.
 31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the frequency and phase comparators are adapted to generate frequency and phase error signals, respectively.
 32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the clock signal generator comprises a digital to analog converter coupled to the frequency and phase comparators to convert the frequency and phase error signals, respectively, to an analog signal to control the output of the clock signal generator.
 33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises an oscillator coupled to the digital to analog converter to generate the output clock frequency.
 34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises a low pass filter connected between the digital to analog converter and the oscillator.
 35. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises a shift register coupled to receive the frequency and phase error signals from the frequency and phase comparators, respectively, and in response to generate a digital correction signal to the digital to analog converter.
 36. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a reference clock capable of generating an input reference frequency and coupled to provide the first and second reference frequencies.
 37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a first frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the phase comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a first divisor to obtain the first reference frequency.
 38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a second frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the frequency comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a second divisor to obtain the second reference frequency.
 39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a third frequency divider, connected between the output of the clock signal generator and the frequency comparator, to divide the output clock frequency by a third divisor.
 40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the third divisor is equal to the second divisor multiplied by the output clock frequency divided by the input reference frequency.
 41. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the first divisor is less than the second divisor.
 42. A phase locking apparatus for phase locking in a plurality of temporal frames including a first frame and at least one subsequent frame, each frame characterized by a frequency and a phase, the apparatus comprising:(a) a phase locked loop for frequency and phase comparisons to lock the frequency and phase, respectively, of the first frame, the phase locked loop comprising:(i) a phase comparator coupled to lock the phase of the first frame based upon a first reference frequency; and (ii) a frequency comparator coupled to lock the frequency of the first frame based upon a second reference frequency, the phase and frequency comparators adapted to generate phase and frequency error signals, respectively; (b) a first frame device capable of receiving the first frame, the first frame device connected to provide a synchronous frame frequency to the phase comparator for the phase comparison between the first reference frequency and the synchronous frame frequency; (c) at least one subsequent frame device capable of receiving the at least one subsequent frame; and (d) a drop clock device coupled to the first frame device to detect the phase of the first frame and further coupled to the at least one subsequent frame device to set the phase of the at least one subsequent frame in coherence with the phase of the first frame.
 43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a clock signal generator capable of generating an output clock frequency and having an output coupled to convey the output clock frequency to the first frame device and the at least one subsequent frame device.
 44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the clock signal generator comprises a digital to analog converter coupled to the frequency and phase comparators to convert the frequency and phase error signals, respectively, to an analog signal to control the output of the clock signal generator.
 45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises an oscillator coupled to the digital to analog converter to generate the output clock frequency.
 46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises a low pass filter connected between the digital to analog converter and the oscillator.
 47. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises a shift register coupled to receive the frequency and phase error signals from the frequency and phase comparators, respectively, and in response to generate a digital correction signal to the digital to analog converter.
 48. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a reference clock capable of generating an input reference frequency and coupled to provide the first and second reference frequencies.
 49. The apparatus of claim 48, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a first frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the phase comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a first divisor to obtain the first reference frequency.
 50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a second frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the frequency comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a second divisor to obtain the second reference frequency.
 51. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a third frequency divider, connected between the output of the clock signal generator and the frequency comparator, to divide the output clock frequency by a third divisor.
 52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein the third divisor is equal to the second divisor multiplied by the output clock frequency divided by the input reference frequency.
 53. The apparatus of claim 50, wherein the first divisor is less than the second divisor.
 54. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the at least one subsequent frame comprises a plurality of subsequent frames in a temporal sequence, the at least one subsequent frame device comprises a plurality of subsequent frame devices respectively for receiving the plurality of subsequent frames, and the drop clock device is further coupled to the plurality of subsequent frame devices to set the phase of each of the subsequent frames in coherence with the phase of the first frame.
 55. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein the drop clock device is adapted to provide a predetermined phase shift for each of the subsequent frames relative to the first frame.
 56. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein the drop clock device is adapted to provide a predetermined fixed phase shift between immediately adjacent frames in the plurality of temporal frames.
 57. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the drop clock device is further coupled to sense phase shifts of the subsequent frames and in response to adjust the phases of the subsequent frames according to the predetermined phase shift.
 58. The apparatus of claim 55, wherein the predetermined phase shift is 0°.
 59. The apparatus of claim 54, further comprising a plurality of phase shifters coupled between the drop clock device and the plurality of subsequent frame devices, respectively, to shift the phases of the subsequent frames.
 60. A phase locking apparatus for phase locking in a plurality of temporal frames including a first frame and at least one subsequent frame, each frame characterized by a frequency and a phase, the apparatus comprising:(a) a first frame device capable of receiving the first frame and generating a synchronous frame frequency; (b) at least one subsequent frame device capable of receiving the at least one subsequent frame; (c) a phase locked loop coupled to the first frame device to lock the frequency and phase, respectively, of the first frame, the phase locked loop comprising:(i) a phase comparator coupled to locked the phase of the first frame by comparing the synchronous frame frequency with a first reference frequency; (ii) a frequency comparator coupled to lock the frequency of the first frame based upon a second reference frequency, the phase and frequency comparators adapted to generate phase and frequency error signals, respectively; (iii) a clock signal generator capable of generating an output clock frequency and having an output coupled to convey the output clock frequency to the first frame device and the at least one subsequent frame device; (iv) a shift register coupled to receive the frequency and phase error signals from the frequency and phase comparators, respectively, and in response to generate a digital correction signal to the digital to analog converter; and (v) a reference clock capable of generating an input reference frequency and coupled to provide the first and second reference frequencies; and (d) a drop clock device coupled to the first frame device to detect the phase of the first frame and further coupled to the at least one subsequent frame device to set the phase of the at least one subsequent frame in coherence with the phase of the first frame.
 61. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the clock signal generator comprises a digital to analog converter coupled to the frequency and phase comparators to convert the frequency and phase error signals, respectively, to an analog signal to control the output of the clock signal generator.
 62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises an oscillator coupled to the digital to analog converter to generate the output clock frequency.
 63. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises a low pass filter connected between the digital to analog converter and the oscillator.
 64. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a first frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the phase comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a first divisor to obtain the first reference frequency.
 65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a second frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the frequency comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a second divisor to obtain the second reference frequency.
 66. The apparatus of claim 65, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a third frequency divider, connected between the output of the clock signal generator and the frequency comparator, to divide the output clock frequency by a third divisor.
 67. The apparatus of claim 66, wherein the third divisor is equal to the second divisor multiplied by the output clock frequency divided by the input reference frequency.
 68. The apparatus of claim 65, wherein the first divisor is less than the second divisor.
 69. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein the at least one subsequent frame comprises a plurality of subsequent frames in a temporal sequence, the at least one subsequent frame device comprises a plurality of subsequent frame devices respectively for receiving the plurality of subsequent frames, and the drop clock device is further coupled to the plurality of subsequent frame devices to set the phase of each of the subsequent frames in coherence with the phase of the first frame.
 70. The apparatus of claim 69, wherein the drop clock device is adapted to provide a predetermined phase shift for each of the subsequent frames relative to the first frame.
 71. The apparatus of claim 69, wherein the drop clock device is adapted to provide a predetermined fixed phase shift between immediately adjacent frames in the plurality of temporal frames.
 72. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the drop clock device is further coupled to sense phase shifts of the subsequent frames and in response to adjust the phases of the subsequent frames according to the predetermined phase shift.
 73. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the predetermined phase shift is 0°.
 74. The apparatus of claim 69, further comprising a plurality of phase shifters coupled between the drop clock device and the plurality of subsequent frame devices, respectively, to shift the phases of the subsequent frames.
 75. A phase locking apparatus for phase locking in a plurality of temporal frames including a first frame and a plurality of subsequent frames, each frame characterized by a frequency and a phase, the apparatus comprising:(a) a first frame device capable of receiving the first frame and generating a synchronous frame frequency; (b) a plurality of subsequent frame devices capable of receiving the plurality of subsequent frames, respectively; (c) a phase locked loop coupled to the first frame device to lock the frequency and phase, respectively, of the first frame, the phase locked loop comprising:(i) a phase comparator coupled to locked the phase of the first frame by comparing the synchronous frame frequency with a first reference frequency; (ii) a frequency comparator coupled to lock the frequency of the first frame based upon a second reference frequency, the phase and frequency comparators adapted to generate phase and frequency error signals, respectively; (iii) a clock signal generator capable of generating an output clock frequency and having an output coupled to convey the output clock frequency to the first frame device and the subsequent frame devices; (iv) a shift register coupled to receive the frequency and phase error signals from the frequency and phase comparators, respectively, and in response to generate a digital correction signal to the digital to analog converter; and (v) a reference clock capable of generating an input reference frequency and coupled to provide the first and second reference frequencies; (d) a drop clock device coupled to the first frame device to detect the phase of the first frame and further coupled to the subsequent frame devices to set the phases of the subsequent frames in coherence with the phase of the first frame by providing a predetermined phase shift for each of the subsequent frames relative to the first frame; and (e) a plurality of phase shifters coupled between the drop clock device and the plurality of subsequent frame devices, respectively, to shift the phases of the subsequent frames.
 76. The apparatus of claim 75, wherein the clock signal generator comprises a digital to analog converter coupled to the frequency and phase comparators to convert the frequency and phase error signals, respectively, to an analog signal to control the output of the clock signal generator.
 77. The apparatus of claim 76, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises an oscillator coupled to the digital to analog converter to generate the output clock frequency.
 78. The apparatus of claim 77, wherein the clock signal generator further comprises a low pass filter connected between the digital to analog converter and the oscillator.
 79. The apparatus of claim 75, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a first frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the phase comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a first divisor to obtain the first reference frequency.
 80. The apparatus of claim 79, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a second frequency divider, connected between the reference clock and the frequency comparator, to divide the input reference frequency by a second divisor to obtain the second reference frequency.
 81. The apparatus of claim 80, wherein the phase locked loop further comprises a third frequency divider, connected between the output of the clock signal generator and the frequency comparator, to divide the output clock frequency by a third divisor.
 82. The apparatus of claim 75, wherein the drop clock device is further coupled to sense phase shifts of the subsequent frames and in response to adjust the phases of the subsequent frames according to the predetermined phase shift.
 83. The apparatus of claim 75, wherein the predetermined phase shift is 0°. 